Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Mendocino County legitimizes medical marijuana growers

Mendocino County officials have approved sweeping regulations aimed atending the county's long-running pot wars and harnessing theeconomic power of the region's number one crop.

Medical marijuana, growers, Mendocino County

On a 3-2 vote, the county Board of Supervisors adopted the planyesterday amid a long-running debate over whether Mendocino shouldembrace or reject its reputation as California's pot capital (sorryHumboldt County).

"This vote bridges the divide in this county and bring an end to thepolarization that has burdened our community for the past years,"said Matthew Cohen, an organic farmer who runs a medical marijuanacollective near Ukiah.

Many localities around California have imposed regulations or bans ondispensaries (storefronts) that provide marijuana to patients whoqualify under state law.

But the new regulations in Mendocino could be the first in the state tocreate a legal framework for marijuana growers, treating them like anyother business.

The plan stipulates that all growers must operate as non-profitcollectives – in line with state guidelines – but it alsorequires collectives to pay sales tax to the state Board of Equalization"if they intend to sell directly to qualified patients or primarycaregivers."

To coax more growers into the open, the ordinance raises the number ofpot plants that can be cultivated on a parcel of land to 99 (from 25).But only if the grower follows state guidelines and gets a specialpermit from Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman.

"What we are saying is if you are going to grow the 99 plants, lawenforcement is going to have full access to your property. We're goingto be able to inspect, we're going to be able to see how healthy yourplants are, and if you have seven-pound plants, you're going to have areal problem because that's too much pot."